Big Data is the probably the buzziest term in Silicon Valley these days. While many companies make a big deal about how much they're investing in analytics tools, what they don't mention is how hard it is to actually glean usable insight from vast troves of complex data.

That's where IBM Fellow and director of technology and operations Laura Haas comes into the picture. She is leading IBM's new Accelerated Discovery Lab at the company's Almaden facility in San Jose.

Haas said the lab was born after IBM got feedback from clients and its own researchers that the biggest hurdle to Big Data analytics was actually getting to a point that the data was usable.

"Clients told us they'd spend 80 to 95 percent of their time preparing the data before they could actually dig into it," she said. "It was really low-hanging fruit for us to bring our resources together to help out."

The lab gives both IBM researchers and the company's clients access to tools like public and licensed data sets, storage facilities and analytics tools, models and frameworks to help get the most out of their data. Of course, there's also the brainpower of on-site IBM data experts to help with projects.

"Finding value in Big Data can be like looking for a needle in a haystack," she said. "We can help shape what they're looking for."

The lab's current projects include projects for medical researchers, a mining company and even social media (analyzing a person's personality through their Twitter comments).

Working with Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, the IBM research team analyzed more than 10 years of cancer research literature (5,000+ reports) to determine how one particular gene — p53 — responds to different cancer drugs to develop new treatments for the disease.

IBM is also working with Thiess, an Australian contract mining company, to help increase its production rate, reduce operational downtime and cut maintenance cost. By analyzing data from Thiess' mining equipment, IBM researchers were able to prescribe a maintenance schedule to reduce the company's costs.

"Thiess told us it costs around $5 million for each day a piece of equipment is out of service," Haas said. "But if that machinery breaks, it's even more expensive to replace."

The lab is working with local partners like Juniper Networks, which will provide IBM routers and network switching systems.

Haas said IBM is developing different membership models for potential clients, with cheaper options for academics and longer term commitments for big tech companies with bigger projects. Haas is also looking into partnerships with local universities, explaining the lab could help students get hands-on experience.

IBM, based in Armonk, NY, has 4,000 employees in Silicon Valley. It employs more than 430,000 people company-wide.